Turtle Defeats Sarah Palin

$27,000, 5th week, 7 theaters

$24,000, 2nd week, 14 theaters

The Sarah Palin movie the Undefeated made just $24,000 at 14 theaters its second weekend, after making allegedly $65,000 its opening weekend at 10 theaters. Usually when a movie goes wider, its box office increases. One has to wonder about the accuracy of the first week’s accounting.

The fact that it made only around $10,000 between Monday and Thursday of last week is another indication that the first weekend’s tally was exaggerated. Usually a film makes 1/3rd to 1/2 of its opening weekend during the following four weekdays. Possibly $30,000-$40,000 of that $65,000 came from the producers and/or friends who bought tickets to inflate the opening weekend’s tally, so it wouldn’t look like such a flop. Perhaps, I’m being conspiratorial, but the steep 63% drop-off does appear odd.

Just above it at #35 was a nature documentary called Turtle, the Incredible Journey. It made $27,000. It was playing at only half as many theaters, seven, as the Undefeated, and this was its fifth week. The movie description is “a little loggerhead turtle follows in the path of her ancestors on one of the most extraordinary journeys in the natural world.” It has been getting excellent reviews and I plan on seeing it.

Oh baby Jesus save us. I just got an email from TeamSarah (I am a stealth member) pleading with everyone to show up Wednesday and Thursday with 25 people each. I quote “do you want your children to live in country ruled by Tina Fey’s values or one where the values of Sarah Palin are strong”.

Tina Fey’s last movie in which she appeared was “Date Night.” (2010) It grossed $98 Million. She did the voice of Roxanne Ritchie in “Megamind” (2011) which grossed $147 milllion.
The “Undefeated” has reached $100 thousand and is unlikely to reach $200 thousand
I guess that says everything about where America’s values lies.

Nothing wonky about the numbers. Sarah Palin’s C4P and SarahPac web sites pumped sales of the opening weekend for months, at one point even offering rewards for buying multiples of 5 tickets. The tickets sold on these sites to her “Palinistas” went largely unused, and there were reports of near empty theaters that were sold out.

In any case, her fan base was not extensive enough to continue buying tickets to screenings they weren’t going to attend, and they quickly decided to save their money for the DVD. That made the opening week’s returns far higher than the out weeks.

It was a terrible film, and I don’t think there are very many people left who like Sarah Palin enough to sit through 2 hours of her screeching invectives, save for her small but rabid base. They worship her as a deity.